{"product_id":"kiyoshi-awazu-天守物語-十三夜-shibuya-toyoko-theatre-bungakuza-japanese-theatre-poster-original-offset-1974-rare-b2-size-c-51-5-72-8-cm-s216-copy","title":"“KIYOSHI AWAZU – 詩人トロツキー \/ GEKIDAN NINGENZA No.26 \/ NIHON SEINENKAN HALL,” Japanese Theatre Poster, Original Offset 1968 Design \/ 1969 Performance Issue, Rare, B2 Size (c. 51.7 × 73.3 cm) S218","description":"\u003cp class=\"PDq2pG_selectionAnchorContainer\"\u003eAn \u003cstrong\u003eoriginal period theatre poster by Kiyoshi Awazu (1929–2009)\u003c\/strong\u003e for \u003cstrong\u003eGekidan Ningenza’s (劇団人間座) No.26 production of \u003cem\u003eShijin Trotsky\u003c\/em\u003e (詩人トロツキー \/ “Poet Trotsky”)\u003c\/strong\u003e. A \u003cstrong\u003eChiba City Museum of Art exhibition checklist\u003c\/strong\u003e documents Awazu’s \u003cem\u003eGekidan Ningenza “Shijin Trotsky” Poster\u003c\/em\u003e as a \u003cstrong\u003e1968 printed work measuring 73.3 × 51.7 cm\u003c\/strong\u003e, while this specific surviving issue carries the updated performance dates \u003cstrong\u003e20–25 March 1969\u003c\/strong\u003e at \u003cstrong\u003eNihon Seinenkan Hall (日本青年館ホール)\u003c\/strong\u003e. The poster therefore represents an \u003cstrong\u003eoriginal 1969 performance issue of Awazu’s 1968 design\u003c\/strong\u003e, rather than a modern reprint. \u003cspan class=\"contents\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"PDq2pG_selectionAnchor\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe sheet identifies \u003cstrong\u003eIsamu Kurita (栗田勇)\u003c\/strong\u003e as playwright and \u003cstrong\u003eKazuo Eda (江田和雄)\u003c\/strong\u003e as director. Contemporary bibliographic material likewise credits the production’s \u003cstrong\u003e宣伝美術 \/ publicity art to Kiyoshi Awazu\u003c\/strong\u003e, alongside composition \/ directing assistance by \u003cstrong\u003eTaizō Hamada\u003c\/strong\u003e and music by \u003cstrong\u003eMakoto Moroi\u003c\/strong\u003e. The performance information printed prominently across the poster gives the run as \u003cstrong\u003e20–25 March 1969\u003c\/strong\u003e, with evening performances at \u003cstrong\u003e6:30 pm\u003c\/strong\u003e and a Sunday matinee, at the historic \u003cstrong\u003eNihon Seinenkan Hall in the Meiji Jingu Gaien area of Tokyo\u003c\/strong\u003e. \u003cspan class=\"contents\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAwazu was \u003cstrong\u003eself-taught\u003c\/strong\u003e and became one of the major figures of \u003cstrong\u003epost-war Japanese graphic design\u003c\/strong\u003e. Kariya City Art Museum records his early career in film and theatre publicity and notes the extraordinary breadth of his later practice, while major institutional collections including \u003cstrong\u003eLACMA\u003c\/strong\u003e preserve his theatre posters from precisely this late-1960s period. His stage graphics are particularly important because they fuse political imagery, vernacular typography, photography, printmaking and traditional Japanese visual structures into work that often transcends its original advertising function. \u003cspan class=\"contents\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis example is especially striking for its \u003cstrong\u003emonumental halftone portrait of Leon Trotsky\u003c\/strong\u003e, rendered in burnt orange and deep brown and overlaid with \u003cstrong\u003eacid yellow-green photographic eye details, proportional diagrams and silhouetted human figures\u003c\/strong\u003e. Awazu surrounds the face with saturated fragments of \u003cstrong\u003erevolutionary crowds, architecture, political imagery and geometric measurement systems\u003c\/strong\u003e, creating a visual language that feels simultaneously documentary, constructivist and psychedelic. Across the bottom, enormous blue and black \u003cstrong\u003eCyrillic-inspired “TROTSKY” lettering\u003c\/strong\u003e crashes through the composition, while a small multicoloured circular graphic at lower left adds another burst of Pop-era colour. It is a superb example of Awazu’s ability to transform a specific theatrical commission into a stand-alone work of \u003cstrong\u003eradical 1960s Japanese graphic design\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCondition:\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eExcellent original condition overall\u003c\/strong\u003e, with \u003cstrong\u003eremarkably strong colour\u003c\/strong\u003e, rich orange, magenta, blue and yellow-green printing. There is \u003cstrong\u003elight age \/ handling wear, minor creasing and some small edge \/ lower-margin wear visible in the close-up photographs\u003c\/strong\u003e, entirely consistent with an original working theatre poster from 1969. The principal portrait, typography and graphic elements remain extremely strong, and the poster presents beautifully overall. Please review the imagery provided as this is the exact poster for sale.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Japan Poster Shop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57250906767738,"sku":null,"price":1095.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0424\/8859\/4591\/files\/wall-shelf-with-ornaments-2026-09-10T071429.310.jpg?v=1788992113","url":"https:\/\/japanposter.co.uk\/products\/kiyoshi-awazu-%e5%a4%a9%e5%ae%88%e7%89%a9%e8%aa%9e-%e5%8d%81%e4%b8%89%e5%a4%9c-shibuya-toyoko-theatre-bungakuza-japanese-theatre-poster-original-offset-1974-rare-b2-size-c-51-5-72-8-cm-s216-copy","provider":"Japan Poster Shop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}